


A Birthday Rose

by DeeTheTeaDrinkingDragon



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, For context they're not quite dating but they're both in mutual pining mode ahahah, Rayllum, Something I wrote for Rayla's birthday!, Very soft stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-01
Updated: 2019-08-01
Packaged: 2020-07-28 19:09:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20069083
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeeTheTeaDrinkingDragon/pseuds/DeeTheTeaDrinkingDragon
Summary: Callum was an artist, but by no means was he a whittler. He had tried to venture into other art forms before; painting, clay sculpting, even mosaics. But at the end of the day, his passion had always been for drawing, and he had little confidence in much outside of that.So he wasn’t entirely sure why he thought this would go well. The power of love? No, that was stupid.In which Callum attempts to make Rayla a birthday gift. (A collab with Raspbi!)





	A Birthday Rose

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Raspbi](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Raspbi).

Callum was an artist, but by no means was he a whittler. He had tried to venture into other art forms before; painting, clay sculpting, even mosaics. But at the end of the day, his passion had always been for drawing, and he had little confidence in much outside of that.

So he wasn’t entirely sure why he thought this would go well. The power of love? No, that was stupid. 

Callum glanced down at the little trinket in his palms. It wasn’t… fantastic, but perhaps he had set his standards far too high. Rayla deserved so much better, but she’d still appreciate the effort… right? He hoped so. The number of times he’s nicked his hands and fingers were a testament to his devotion to make something for her. Either that, or it was a testament to his stubbornness. Perhaps both… he could settle for both.

Rayla had insisted days earlier that he didn’t need to get her anything. And that they didn’t need to make a big deal out of her birthday. There had been pain on her face, what was it, homesickness? Or had somehow her birthdays become something bitter to her? Whatever it was, it had put into effect a longing, a desire for him to make her smile again.

He didn’t need to _get_ her anything… But he did want to _make_ her something instead.

He had _attempted_ to make a rose. Attempt being the key word. But it was harder than he had expected, and he had already expected it to be pretty hard given his complete and utter inexperience with what he was doing.

His tools weren’t exactly the best either. He has managed to purchase a little pocket knife in a town a few days back, it had seemed like a decent idea at the time, though Rayla had scoffed at him.

‘_Why’d you need a teeny lil’ blade like that for? If you need something cutting, you can just ask me._’

_‘Just in case, y’know? It… might come in handy for me if I don’t have my magic, or if we get separated.’ _

It was a sharp knife. But not exactly one made for woodcarving, and so often it had jammed in the timber or sliced outwards, catching his fingers, littering them in dozens of little cuts. It had also ruined his design several times, causing the boy to grumble and discard the half-finished piece and start over on another bit cut from one of the many trees they had passed.

It had been tricky to keep his new hobby a secret from her too. He had settled on carving whenever she went on patrol, or the rare occasion she would let herself fall asleep first. It didn’t leave him much time to work. And now it was the day, there wasn’t any time left to make improvements, or start over. It would have to do.

At least it didn’t look too terrible. He had opted to stain it with moonberries to give it some colour, and that had actually helped it a little. But now it was the moment of truth, and suddenly the nerves were gripping him coldly by the heart as it fluttered like a panicked butterfly in his chest.

It had been a relatively peaceful day, quiet as they passed through the forests. She was sitting across from him, lounging against the rocky cliff where they had settled and made camp for the evening, Zym napping at her side. Her eyes were skyward, gazing at the clouds as the sky began to fade into hues of orange. She looked almost pensive. Melancholy. He wished he could have done more for her.

She had noticed his unease, her eyes flicking to him periodically.

“Alright, what’s going on?” She asked rather flatly. “You’ve been staring at me for the past fifteen minutes, it’s putting me on edge. Is there something on my face?”

Callum panicked. Had he been staring? He hadn’t meant to. “O-Oh no, I-” He coughed nervously, his hand curled into a tight fist around the little pendant. Rayla raised an eyebrow at him. “It’s just, um… I have something for you?”

Rayla’s face flickered to surprise now, as she sat up a little straighter. “What…? Callum I told you, you didn’t need to…”

“I know.” He shuffled over to sit next to her. “…I know. But I…” He paused for a moment, searching for the right words. “I wanted to give you a gift to show you how much I appreciate you, y’know? I think that you’re so amazing, and cool, and kind, a-and you do so much for me and Zym and…” He trailed off. Perhaps it was the setting sun, bathing them both in gentle hues, but her eyes were so full of warmth in that moment. “So I made you something.”

“Oh…” Her voice was quiet now, ears relaxed, the curl of a smile on her lips. “Callum… you utter softie.”

He grinned timidly, and reached out to take her hand. She let him, and he guided it so it was palm up. He slipped his hand into hers, letting the little trinket fall from his fingers into hers, but he kept his there, covering it.

“U-Uh… don’t get too excited it’s not very good but…”

She smiled sweetly back at him, reassuringly. Callum very gently let his hand turn over to reveal the little carved rose. Her eyes lit up.

“Callum?”

“Yeah…?”

“It’s beautiful.”

“R-Really?” He glanced up at her surprised. She was looking at it with genuine admiration, letting it rest in her palm as she brought it closer to inspect it, the fingers of her other hand glancing over it delicately. “I thought it was a bit of a mess but I-” Callum squeaked, unaware of what was happening before it was too late. Rayla’s free hand had wound its way around his jacket, pulling him in, and she pressed a little kiss against his cheek.

“Thank you. I love it.”

“Thank you… I-I mean you’re welcome!” Callum’s voice cracked, his ears burning.

She chuckled as she slipped it over her head. “Besides you’re a mess and I still l- …I still like you.” She had paused, stammering for half a second, and Callum wondered silently if she had nearly said something else. He wasn’t given time to think too long about it.

“Callum what did you do to your hands?” She gasped suddenly, her hands finding his as she turned his hands palms upwards. “Were you trying to whittle them too or something?” She glowered up at him. 

“Huh? Oh uh. I had a couple of accidents. It’s fine.” He chuckled, but her frown deepened.

“Remind me to never trust you with knives again. Ever.”

“Duly noted.” He smiled softly back at her. The twitch of a smile found her own lips.

“Dumb, clumsy human.” She remarked fondly. She pulled his hands a little closer to her face and felt his heart lurch very suddenly in his chest as Rayla’s lips very tenderly found his palm. She didn’t pull away, planting tiny soft ticklish kisses against his fingers and hands.

“Uh. R-Ray?”

“Hm?”

“What u-uh…”

“I’m kissing your hands better, what does it look like?”

“_Oh_. _Okay_. Awesome.” His voice cracked a little. Surely his entire face was several shades redder than the little charm dangling around her neck now.

She smiled softly back at him, before nuzzling gently against his palm again. He watched, relaxing slowly, his heart fluttering as she kissed his knuckles too, his thumbs, muttering softly between kisses about what a klutz he was, and that she’d take care of him.

She planted one final little kiss against a cut and rested there for a moment, before shuffling to move away. But instead, Callum’s fingers slipped gently across her cheek, and he watched her eyes light up with surprise for a moment as he cupped her cheeks in his hands. Her eyes met his, gentle and curious.

A strange bravery overcame Callum in that moment, and ever so slowly he inched forward, heart pounding. He felt Rayla go a little tense suddenly in anticipation, his face likely betraying his nerves. And then ever so delicately his lips brushed against her brow, and he pressed a tender little kiss between her eyes. His thumbs softly brushed under her eyes, his fingers curling a little as they slid back and met her jawline.

He heard her take a surprised little shaky breath.

Then she relaxed, and he felt the stiffness in her own hands, still resting atop his own dissipate, as they brushed tenderly against his.

Even with his eyes closed… he could feel her smiling.

It brought a little smile of his own to his features. His lips lingered a little and he didn’t pull back right away, instead planting a second little kiss on the bridge of her nose, before letting himself move back just enough so he could look at her face. Her eyes were still closed at first, before they fluttered open, a little star struck, her cheeks tinged with pink.

He smiled at her and she gave him an affectionate little grin. “Well that was a nice extra present.”

“Y-Yeah uh, a little impromptu one.” He laughed nervously, heat stinging at his cheeks.

“Thank you.” Her voice went softer now. “For everything. This has been… a different birthday but a nice one. And I’m really glad you’re here for it.”

Callum’s heart felt like it was about to explode with fondness. Tenderly he guided her closer, and he leaned forward, gently bumping their foreheads together, his nose pressed to hers. She chuckled softly, her thumbs brushing affectionately back and forth across the backs of his hands.

“Hey Ray?”

Her eyes twinkled a little as she smiled back at him. “Yeah?”

There was so much love in his voice, and in his heart, when he spoke again.

“Happy birthday.”

**Author's Note:**

> Ta da! It's a day late but HAPPY BIRTHDAY RAYLA!  
Me and Taylor have been super excited about making this for you guys. It's actually a collaboration, Taylor drew a beautiful little set of art to go alongside this as an accompaniment so please go check that out over at: https://www.instagram.com/p/B0oe11xAB2S/  
I hope you guys enjoyed this little oneshot it was super fun and refreshing to work on! And don't worry I'm still working on The Midnight Compass! I just wanted to make something cute for our fave softies. :)


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